Lawmakers in Australian state to pledge allegiance to king

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Lawmakers in Australia’s Victoria state — named for a 19th century queen — will pledge their allegiance to King Charles III on Tuesday in a legal quirk showing how complicated severing Australia’s constitutional ties with Britain’s monarch might become. The center-left Labor government wants an Australian president to replace the British monarch as the nation’s head of state. Queen Elizabeth II’s death is seen as an ideal opportunity for change. But the legal process in Victoria shows how each state has its own relationship to the new monarch. In other states and in the Australian Parliament, the lawmakers’ oaths roll over from the late monarch to their heir. Victoria demands a new oath before lawmakers can conduct other business.